//------------------------------// // Birthday Battle Blitz // Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S7 // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// A very familiar darkly lit lab was once again in full use, the scientific mad-pony known as Void now staring at a computer. On it was video footage of Flash, Springer, Twilight and all the other ponies that had done battle against his previous creations. The footage on Flash came to a stop and words appeared on the screen. Battle Data 91% It then showed an image of Springer before new words appeared. Battle Data 84% This continued, Void staring as more and more files appeared. "It's not enough," he told himself as he leaned back in a curved chair, twiddling his hooves, "My mistake was having my creations go in blind. If they are to capture him, they must know everything. There must be no surprises." He let out several coughs as he spun the chair around, "But am I too late?" He glanced back at the computer again, seeing Flurry Heart appear on the screen, "After all, even a wild card like that has appeared in front of my creations just before I was about to win." He coughed one more time before typing away on the computer. Uploading battle data A bar appeared on the screen, Void staring at it before spinning around in his chair. He turned to stare at a capsule as it filled with light and smoke. "Your task is simple. Find the one I'm after and attempt to defeat them and claim what is mine. But along the way, you will also acquire battle data for him and all those that could help him. I want to know everything, even the smallest fighting detail." He coughed again as the bar completely filled and the capsule opened up, unleashing the gas and the figure hidden within it...along with a pair of red lights. Several weeks later... In the town of Ponyville, Pinkie was joyfully bouncing around, her saddlebag strapped on tight as the bag was overloaded with equipment needed to complete her task back at Sugarcube Corner. She smiled as she spotted Wild walking out of the post office, a box in his magic. She sneaked up behind him and was ready to leap on his back, but when she did, he jumped to the side. "Hey!" She yelped as she missed before leaping back onto her hooves, Wild laughing in return. "No fair! Your little buddies tipped you off!" "They sure did," Wild chuckled as his puppets flew down from above. "Sure did. Sure did." Pinkie let out a giggle before stretching her head over to the box he was holding, "Oh? Is that for you know who?" "You know it." Wild replied, "Lightning's gonna love this. Gonna be the best birthday he's ever had." Pinkie nodded before they started making their way back to Sugarcube Corner, the pair arriving and stopping right at the doorway. They both glanced around several times to see nopony was in view, Pinkie then reaching over and sliding a piece of the wall open to reveal a string that she tugged. Seconds later, the floor beneath them vanished and they both began to fall into a pair of tubes before the floor reappeared. Flying through them, the ponies enjoyed the ride until they were shot out and landed in a pair of chairs inside the Party Cave. Once properly seated, the tubes retracted and the seats rolled along the ground until it reached a section of the cave with a large board on it. The board had multiple things attached to it, including a map in the center with sticky notes surrounding it that had stings going from the notes to the maps. The map itself showed a green area surrounded by trees. "Alright," Pinkie pulled out a laser pointer and pointed it at the map, "Operation Birthday Blitz is looking to run smoothly. The party will begin at eleven hundred hours." She pointed to a sticky note connected by a string to a spot next to an area without trees, "The guests will arrive here and place any gifts they brought on a table over here." She pointed to another sticky note that had a string connecting it to an area of the map opposite to the first. "The food will be placed there so ponies don't block the entrance and gift table while looking for something to eat." "Just need to double check the list of food to make sure it's everything Lightning enjoys." Wild grabbed a scroll in his magic and looked it over, "Hmm hm, hmm hm, hmm hm. Yup. Looks like everything we need to make this party awesome has been taken care of." "Yup," Pinkie giggled as Gummy appeared and crawled up to her lap. "We have Vinyl with a list of all Lightning's favorite songs, a designated dance area for ponies to get their groove on, and even a bouncy castle area for the younger ponies to enjoy." "Are we sure little ponies are gonna come to this?" Wild asked, "I didn't think Lightning has made many friends with short-stacks." Pinkie nodded and took out a guest list. "Got a bunch of young pony's names right here. The invite replies said Lightning helped save a really fun party, so they wanna come celebrate with him." Wild nodded before taking the guest list and looking through it, smiling when he saw almost everypony from Ponyville was gonna be there. His smile then increased when he spotted Gorgenia on the list, the mare planning to travel from the Crystal Empire and stay for a few days. However, this grin vanished when he saw two of the first few names on the list. Had they not been right next to one another, his frown wouldn't have appeared. "Solid Script and Grand Hoof." "Hmm?" Pinkie tilted her head at this, "What's the problem. Script's his best friend and Grand's his grandpa, of course he'd want them...oh." Her mane started to deflate, "I hope those two don't cause a scene." "I don't expect Grand to try and cause something, but it's Script I'm worried about." Wild sighed as he said those words, remembering that even though the two had just actually worked together to help save Lightning when he was under evil dragonic control, Script's resentment to Grand over what had happened in their past was still a hot button issue. "You really think he'd risk ruining Lightning's party because he doesn't like Grand?" "No way." Wild replied, "Out of all of us, Solid Script respects Lightning the most. He'd do anything for him. I just..." "Think he might do it by accident?" "Yeah. If a bad situation just happens to pop up and makes him mad...I just hope he doesn't cause a scene." "So...do you think we can do anything about it?" Pinkie asked, "I mean, it's not like we can un-invite them. Lightning would be super bummed if they weren't there. And we both know what happened the last time two ponies tried to fix them." "No kidding." Wild gave the scroll back to Pinkie, "I'll talk to Script when he gets here tomorrow. Try and get him to keep calm...and stay away from Grand." "Good," Pinkie nodded before turning back to the board. "Alright, let's get back to work on making sure the party goes smoothly." She pointed at the entrance to the area, which had another piece of string connecting it to a sticky note. "Soul promised to do a banner, so that shouldn't be an issue..." Meanwhile... At the castle of friendship, Soul was in the main entry way with a large tarp covering the floor, which she was painting on. Flash, Twilight, Heart and Scootaloo trotted into the room, smiling when they saw the filly hard at work. "Hey," Twilight caught her attention, "How's the banner coming along?" "See for yourself," Soul rubbed her forehead, getting some yellow paint on her fur while the others flew up. Flash was carrying Scootaloo and the group looked down to see the words 'Happy Birthday Lightning Blitz' written in a way that made them look like a bunch of lightning bolts. Happy and half of birthday were colored yellow, the rest still empty. Between the first two words and Lightning's name, the pony's cutie mark had been drawn, and the words and mark had been done so well that they fit on the banner perfectly. "Awesome," Heart commented as he flew down. "Still gotta ways to go," she started coloring in an H while Heart turned to Flash and Twilight. "So what did you two get him for his birthday?" He got his answer when Twilight magicked up a large book, Heart rolling his eyes until he saw it was a book on different fighting styles that involve electrical based powers. "He probably already knows a few of these, but I'm sure he'll find one new style he'd enjoy learning." "Cool. Tomorrow's gonna be awesome!" The others nodded as Heart let out a sigh. "Kinda makes me wish it was my birthday." Everypony rolled their eyes at this, though they all knew that would be hard since they didn't know Heart and Soul's birthday. They had all come to the agreement of making the day they arrived in Ponyville count as their birthday, since it was the day they started a new life. And as Soul continued working on her banner, she glanced up and asked, "Say, I wonder what Rarity's gonna do for Lightning's birthday." They all exchanged glances before shrugging, only knowing that Rarity would probably do something overly fancy. The hours soon passed and Soul finished the banner, Twilight using magic to dry it before teleporting it over to Pinkie so she would have it ready for tomorrow. And as night came to the town and everypony went to bed, a certain figure appeared. It was on the other side of the Everfree Forest, having just passed by Ghastly Gorge, the cloaked figure now calmly trotting toward the trees. By this time tomorrow, it would be in Ponyville, and its target would be in sight. However, before they could reach the trees, something shot out of a nearby hole. A giant eel, which seemed to have chosen to make its home outside the gorge. It appeared and glared down at its prey before striking with a loud hiss. But instead of getting to snack on pony meat, it got a mouth full of rock and dirt. The pony was holding up a hoof, which had metal covering it with a hole in the center, dirt having been blasted out of that and into the creature's mouth. The beast roared as it pulled back, trying to cough out the dirt it had swallowed. And as it did, the pony walked off, soon out of the eel's reach before entering the forest. Nothing would distract it from its task. The next morning... At Carousal Boutique, Lightning was asleep in Rarity's bed. The unicorn was happily snoring away as the door opened and Sweetie's head popped in to see him in his current state. She smiled before turning to the nearby window and used her magic to slowly open the curtains until the sunlight hit Lightning's face. The unicorn winced, his eyes slowly opening as Sweetie pulled her head out of the room. He lifted his head at this, letting out a yawn before rolling onto his back and stretching. He was about to get out of bed, but then the door opened again. "Happy birthday!" He heard three voices call out, making him turn to see Rarity, Sweetie and Grand walking into the bedroom. Rarity was carrying a tray in her magic, Grand and Sweetie each carrying a wrapped box. "Morning," he replied before Rarity placed the tray down on his lap. His nose twitched as he stared at it, seeing a bunch of red pancakes and waffles. "Are those what I think they are?" "Your mother's secret recipe," Rarity giggled, "Grand told me she used to make it for you on your birthday." Lightning went wide-eyed at this, only for Grand to speak up. "I gave her your mother's recipe book. Been holding onto it for just the right occasion." Lightning smiled at this and was about to dig in, only for Sweetie to place her box on the bed next to him. "Here, open it! Apple Bloom and Scootaloo helped make it." Lightning stared at the food for a second before quickly ripping the wrapping paper off, revealing a box. Inside, he found a large picture frame that was divided into sections with a different photo in each one. Lightning and Rarity were in the middle, with Grand and his grandmother Live Wire above it. Below the first one was a picture of Sweetie along with her and Rarity's parents. Then, the center left and right pictures were Lightning's mother, one with her holding him as a foal and the other when he was colt with her. Finally, the remaining slots were mostly of them, minus Live Wire and his mother, together doing different activities. "Wow...this is great." He turned to see Sweetie smiling. "I know you don't have the best family history. But...you're kinda like a part of our family now." Rarity patted Sweetie on the head while Grand just chuckled. "Thank you." Lightning said, Sweetie nodding back as the defender carefully put the frame down on the bedside table. Grand then placed his present on the bed. "Here kiddo. Thought you might want this. Your grandmother would probably want you to have it too." Lightning raised an eyebrow at this, but opened the box to find a familiar looking clock he remembered seeing when he visited his grandparent's house as a colt. He remembered back to a story Grand had told him, how his grandmother had built this cuckoo clock out of the remains of a grandfather clock she couldn't fully repair. "Wow..." he whispered before smiling at Grand, "Thanks gramps." "No problem," Grand chuckled before Rarity took the clock and looked it over. It was made of reddish wood that had several patterns carved into it and when the clock struck the hour, the doors atop it opened and a wooden bird flew out and chirped. "It's beautiful," she commented before putting the clock down and turning to Lightning. "Happy birthday darling. Don't worry, I have a special present I'm going give you later." Lightning raised an eyebrow at this, but smirked as he had an idea what she was talking about. "Now eat your breakfast before it gets cold." "Yes ma'am," he replied before pulling the tray towards him and enjoying the red colored foods. Something told him today was gonna be a really good day. Ponyville Train Station... The express running from the Crystal Empire to Las Pegasus had just pulled into the station, having already stopped off at Canterlot, and it had now came to a stop. It unleashed a burst of smoke that filled the station, two ponies walking out of the train. Gorgenia and Solid Script both smiled as they stared at the town, happy to be there to celebrate their friend's birthday. Both were carrying presents in their magic as they pulled their luggage across the platform, only for Wild Smile to appear, "Hey!" He yelled as his puppets repeated the greeting, "What's up!" "Wild!" Gorgenia pulled him into a hug, "It's so good to see you." "Same girl!" She pulled away, "So how's life in this quaint little town?" Her smile turned into a smirk and nudged him, "Are you and miss Pie doing okay?" "Good and brilliant," he answered, "She's sorry she couldn't be here, but she had to start setting everything up for Lightning's party." They nodded back, "Say, why don't we take your stuff to my place, then we can head over to the park." "Of course," Script nodded. "That'll give us a chance to catch up with Lightning. I assume he wouldn't be on patrol on his birthday." "You know it," Wild replied with the puppets repeating. "But he won't be at my place." They started trotting through the town towards his apartment. "Lately he's been spending more and more time over at Rarity's place." Gorgenia giggled at this. "Who'd have thought Lightning would actually have a stable relationship." She suddenly had a dreamy look on her face, the other two recognizing it as her thinking back to the good old days. "Back in Canterlot, he'd never even bother to remember a mare's face that he had been with, let alone her address. He's certainly come a long way." "We all have," Script added, "As much as the Battle of Canterlot will be something we're all ashamed of, it also opened the door for us to improve ourselves. And we have." Wild and Gorgenia nodded, Script smiling before continuing. "So why don't we head to Rarity's place and catch up with Lightning? We can always teleport our stuff to Wild's when we get there." Wild grimaced at this, glancing away, "Uh...it may be best to wait until the party to see him." "Why?" Script asked with a raised eyebrow, only to see Wild keep looking away, "Wild..." "Augh!" he groaned before letting out a huff, "Fine. Grand's over there." Script went wide-eyed before glaring at Wild, the unicorn responding with his own glare, "Don't go getting all huffy about it. Lighting's his grandson, so of course he's gonna be over there with him!" "Then why are you hiding it from me?!" Script barked back. "You know why!" Wild countered, "I just...don't want your issues with Grand ruin Lightning's day." "I'm not gonna ruin today!" Script growled, "You know I'd do anything for Lightning, and I would never ruin his day. Heck, if anypony will ruin this day, its-" "That's enough Script," Gorgenia interrupted, "I don't wanna spend the day hearing you complain about Grand every second." Script turned to glare at her, but she leaned down and narrowed her eyes at his, "Just for today, try and pretend you don't hate him. It'll be a big party with lots of ponies there, so you two should be able to avoid each other." "I can handle it." "Script..." Gorgenia started. Script glanced away and sighed, "I know." He looked back at them, his glare gone, "I'm sorry. I promise to behave." Wild and Gorgenia shared a glance before nodding. And as they made their way to Wild's place, the cloaked pony was now walking to the edge of the Everfree Forest. It had walked all night through the woods, taking down any dangerous beast that tried to attack it. The red lights under its hood scanned everything within sight, including the castle that it began to walk towards. Flash, Twilight, Springer, Spike, Scootaloo, Heart, Soul and Starlight had all left home early to help prepare for the party, soon arriving at the park to see Pinkie in one of the trees tying up the banner. "Hey everypony!" She exclaimed before rolling off the branch and falling a good twenty feet before hitting the ground, her body bouncing off the ground like a rubber ball before landing on her hooves. "Great Banner Soul!" "Thanks! Glad to be of help." Soul replied before they turned to see a long table to their right, an area of the grass that was covered in metal for the ponies to dance on next to the music section, and another long table opposite of them and the bouncy castle. "This is gonna be awesome!" Heart cheered as Pinkie nodded. "Wanna help me bring the food over?" They nodded back before the Twilight, Flash and Pinkie teleported away, returning a minute later with several platters of food and multiple bowls of drink. It took three more trips to get everything, but eventually the snack table was all set up. It was here that Iron and the rest of the Mane Seven, minus Rarity, arrived followed by the cakes, Lyra and Bon Bon and so on. The present table slowly filled up as more and more ponies appeared before Flash saw Wild and the others walk up. "Hey!" he waved, "Glad you two could make it." "Like we'd miss this," Gorgenia replied before she, Wild and Script placed their presents on the table. "So where's Lightning?" "Yes," Script nodded, "I'd very much like to be one of the first to wish him a happy birthday." "I think he'll be the last on to arrive," Flash responded, "Pinkie likes to get all the guests in one place before the pony of honor arrives. She thinks its better to have everypony wish him a happy birthday together." At the castle, the cloaked figure stood outside the giant building and looked up at it. It slowly went to push the doors open, only to find them to be locked. A whirling noise then filled the air, its vision turning to that of an X-ray and energy scanning mode. And while it could detect trace elements of its target's power, the actual target was nowhere close. Figuring nopony was home, the cloaked pony turned back to the town, only to see it was completely deserted. There wasn't a single pony on the street. The cloaked figure trotted down to the village, scanning for any life, only to hear voices, "Come on!" It leapt behind a building and poked its head out to see four ponies, three it recognized from its battle data as Lightning, Rarity and Grand. It did not recognize Sweetie Belle, only to see she was the one talking, "How is it that I'm the one with the shortest legs but I'm moving faster than you?" "Now, now Sweetie," Rarity told her sister, "The party's not going anywhere." "But the sooner we get there, the more time we get to enjoy it!" The filly raced off and the other ponies all laughed before picking up the pace. The cloaked figure watched them leave and after a few seconds, received orders from the one who had created them. "Follow them. They may lead you to your target." Lightning smiled when he saw the banner, the four now walking into the tree surrounded field. As soon as he stepped into it, he was greeted by a rather amazing sound, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Almost everypony in town yelled, seconds before Vinyl Scratch started playing his favorite song. "Hope you enjoy your party!" Pinkie added as she appeared next to him and placed a party hat on his head, the others soon getting their own hats. Lightning continued to smile, that smile growing stronger when he saw Script and Gorgenia trotting over to him. "I think I'll go talk to Flash or something," Grand whispered as he trotted off as Script arrived first. "Script!" He called out before the two unicorns hugged, "It's good to see you." "Same here," Script replied while Rarity and Gorgenia hugged and did the usual cheek kiss thing. "Happy birthday my friend." "Thanks. I get the feeling this is gonna be the best birthday ever." Script nodded, though Lightning had a feeling he would have preferred if it was just them, Wild and Gorgenia, like in the old days. They then moved over to the snack table, grabbing their favorite foods, some of the younger ponies moving over to the bouncy castle while other ponies went to dance. Everypony began to have a great time, talking, dancing and playing around to their heart's content. And after an hour had passed, Script went over to grab another cup of punch before looking over to Lightning, only to glare as he saw Grand and Springer were standing by him, all laughing. "Problem?" He turned to the voice, now seeing a certain purple alicorn. "There's no problem," he muttered before chugging his drink. "Right...so the fact that Grand is talking to Lightning isn't upsetting you?" Script let out a growl, "He gets to talk to Lightning every single day. This is one of the few times I can catch up with him, but Grand gets in the way...again." Twilight shook her head at this, "You know, there's nothing stopping you from going over there." Script's eyes slowly drifted to her, but there was no glare. He knew he would glare at her as she added, "Script...I know what happened here last time, and I'm sorry for what my student did...but Starlight was right. You should get over your issues with Grand." Script glanced away, "Its not that simple. He bullied me for years and now he expects I'll just get over it." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "Script...if we're able to forgive you and Lightning for almost destroying Canterlot, then you should be able to forgive Grand. He knows he made a mistake, but he can't make up for it unless you let him." "It wasn't a mistake." Script almost snapped back, his eyes not going back to the alicorn. "He intentionally did it for years. He's just a bully that ruined my best friend's life." He then glared back at Grand, "I know what he really is." Twilight felt her ears flop down, letting out a sigh, "I think the only pony here who doesn't know the real him is you." She then walked away, Script turning to her fleeing figure before grumbling. Script turned away a second later, throwing away the cup of punch, "Blast it all...only you could make me guilty Twilight." "So, any idea what party games Pinkie's gonna have planned?" Springer asked, the others shrugging. "Whatever they are, I bet they'll be awesome," Flash added. "Yeah," Lightning nodded. "This has already been one of the best birthdays, so anything else that's even remotely fun is gonna be great." They all smiled at this, only for Springer's ears to flare up. A new aura that was similar to one already there had appeared, but something was missing. It was a very familiar sensation, causing a shiver to go down his spine and make him turn to see a cloaked figure standing off to the side. "Flash..." he gulped as he pulled on Flash's mane. The pegasus glanced at him, then followed his sight-line to see the cloaked figure. His eyes went wide and he quickly opened his mental connection to Springer. "Is that what I think it is?" "It feels like it," Springer replied as the cloaked figure slowly began to walk up, Springer opening the link to the rest of their friends in response, "Heads up ponies." Everypony's ears twitched at this, "We've got a problem. Another Trial's shown up." Their eyes went wide hearing this. "Are you sure?" Twilight asked, but then she spotted the cloaked figure. "I see it." "Seriously?!" Lightning mentally yelped, "Couldn't this thing have shown up tomorrow?!" "What do we do?!" Soul added. "I'll lead it away," Flash replied, "It's me it's after, so I'll let you all get everypony else to safety." They mentally nodded and let Flash calmly walk off. They continued to keep their eye on the cloaked pony and as Flash opened his wings began to hover, slowly moving to the edge of the clearing. The others didn't even acknowledge the cloaked pony's existence, fearing it would attack once discovered. And as it got out of range, Twilight frowned at the sight, "I don't like this. Something's different about this situation." Those closest turned to her, Iron asking, "What do you mean?" "Normally, when a Trial sees Flash, it instantly goes on the attack. But this time, its just...standing there. Why?" The others shared a glance, only for Grand to chime in, "We'll worry about that later. Right now, we need to focus on getting everypony here to safety." They nodded, Script rolling his eyes. "Springer, you go with everypony else. If things get out of hoof, you can protect them with your Aura Guard. Iron, Lightning and I will go help Flash." They all nodded, with even Heart not asking to come help. "I'm coming too," Script spoke up, "I might be able to trap it in a rune barrier. That way we can stop it without needing to destroy it. Studying this thing might give us a clue about where these things are coming from." Lightning turned to Grand, who nodded. "Fine." Lightning glared at Script, "Keep yourself safe, alright?" "I'll be fine." Script replied. "Let's go everypony." Grand added, the four going the direction Flash had gone, all hoping he hadn't done anything stupid. Flash arrived at an area of the park that was completely abandoned, just barely enough away from everypony else. He came to a stop, the sounds of heavy hoof-steps appearing behind him. "So...who is it this time? Iron? Cold? First? Or did your makers decide to be original for once and not pick a Royal Knight?" He spun around at this, only to see something rip out the back of the figure's cloak. Two robotic arms came out of the back, both made up of three thin metal poles connected by a round metal orb the size of a baseball. On the end of the last pole was another orb, though it looked slightly smaller. The arms whirled around, the pole moving arms around the orbs to give them impressive movement. Flash watched as it reached down and managed to hook the cloak before ripping it off the pony, revealing the form beneath. It was Grand, but like the others, it was a twisted version of him. With paler fur, mane and tail, along with the cybernetic components covering his mouth, the front of his neck and chest. It had metal hooves and a metal band around its waist, which was where the metal arms we coming from by sliding all the way around the band. "Ooookay." Flash deadpanned as he took out his sword, "So not original, but I didn't guess Grand. We'll call it even. At least this shouldn't be too hard." He got into a battle stance. "Sorry bud, but you're out of luck. I know Grand's moves as well as he does. There ain't a thing you can do to surprise me." The clone's robotic arms slammed into the ground at this and pulled them back, only for the orbs on the edges to be completely surrounded by rock. "Huh. That's a new one." The clone charged and swung the boulder-tipped arms, Flash raising his sword and slashing at the first rock. It shattered upon impact, but then the cyborg swung the other rock, only for Flash to enter Theta Mode and dodge the punch. As this happened, Grand and the others arrived on the scene. "Whoa!" Iron gasped, "It's Grand!" "Trial-G," Lightning dubbed him. "Oh, this is gonna be fun." Script added as his horn glowed and fired off a blast of magic that struck the boulder on the tip of Trial-G's arm, runes appearing on it that glowed seconds before exploding. The clone hissed as it was knocked staggering back. Script's horn sparked at this, but Grand held his hammer up in front of him. "Don't forget what you said. You said you'll catch this thing in one of your rune barriers." Script glared at him at this, only for Grand to continue, "Get to work. We'll hold if off whilst you do so." He charged before Script could argue, Iron and Lightning following after him. "Don't give me...raugh!" Script hissed before using his magic on the ground, slowly forming the runes. While he did this, the Trial slammed his metal arms into the ground and pulled out two more rocks, these looking like a hammer and a drill shape. The drill covered arm began to spin at this, thrusting at Flash as he ducked under it, the drill hitting and shredding a tree. "Hang on Flash!" Grand roared as he swung his hammer around and the clone blocked it with his own, though the rock one shattered on impact. But before Grand could attack again, the now rock-less arm pulled back before punching the knight in the chest. "Augh!" He yelped as he was knocked back. "Iron Saber/Electric Slice!" Lightning and Iron added as they attacked, Trial-G pulling its drill arm in front of both. The blades struck the rock, making it crumble, only for Trial-G to punch them both a second later. "Gyah/Augh!" They cried as they were knocked back as well. "Flash Force!" The laser exploded out of Flash's crossguard, Trial-G spinning around just in time to see the attack strike the ground and explode. The clone creamed as it was sent flying back, crashing into one of the trees and breaking through it. Flash landed as the tree fell upon the clone, pinning it down, the other three running up, only for Flash to gasp as he saw the clone lift a hoof and show a hole in it. "Look out!" he yelled before high pressure blasts of dirt and sand shot out and struck the four, sending them all flying. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" They all soon hit the dirt rolling, allowing the clone to use its mechanical arms to grab push the tree off of it. "Alright..." Grand groaned as he sat up, "So that thing has a few more surprises than I usually got, and its based on me!" He pushed himself back to his hooves, "But we're no slouches either, right boys?" Flash, Iron and Lightning pushed themselves back up and nodded as Grand held up his hammer. "First thing's first, aim for the arms." "GOT IT!" The three roared as they all charged, Trial-G slamming both arms into the ground before pulling them back to reveal a single large rock it was holding. "Do you have any idea how much work goes into making this park look nice?" Flash asked as he got closer, and before he could attack the clone, it smashed the rock into the ground and made it shatter before holding it up in its hooves and fired out dirt blasts. The rocks were sent flying for the four, who all started taking on a defensive stance while cutting, bashing and blasting them away. Once the last rock was gone, Lightning took every knife he had on him and threw them in all directions. Trial-G glanced around at all the daggers surrounding it, clearly wondering how a pony's aim could be so bad. But then, Lightning appeared next to the cyborg and slammed an electrified punch into its face before vanishing and reappearing on its other side while launching an electrified kick into its chest. The others watched as Lightning slammed the Trial again and again, warping all around it at teh same time. Then he disappeared and appeared behind them as they pointed their weapons at the clone. "Flash Cutter/Iron Lance Fury/Grand Impact!" They all launched a barrage of rocks, light blades and iron spikes while the cyborg was still off balance from Lightning's barrage. They all landed and started doing serious damage to the beast, the cyborg now thrashing and rolling into the ground. The four took a stance at this, all readying another attack as the cyborg began to pick itself up, light emanating from its chest and spreading to the rest of it. "I think it's starting to regenerate itself," Grand commented. "We gotta keep it on the ropes!" Flash added as he charged, only for Trial-G to slam both hands into the ground. A moment later, the entire park started violently shaking, knocking Grand, Iron and Lightning off balance as Flash leapt. "That won't work on me!" He yelled, only for the cyborg to raise its hooves and fired the dirt blasts again. "WHOA!" He yelped as he spun around to dodge the attack as the others struggled to stay up, allowing the cyborg to completely repair its damaged body. "Damn it," Iron moaned as the shaking stopped. "If it keeps doing that, taking this thing down will be impossible." "We're not trying to beat it," Grand chimed in, "We just need to hold it off until Script's finished with his barrier...but getting that thing to stay still could be tricky." He turned to one of Lightning's daggers, his eyes going wide as a bulb went off in his head. "I've got it." "Got what?" Lightning asked before Grand pulled his dagger out, "What are you doing?" "Just hold him off for a moment," he replied before running back to where Script was working. Outside the park, Twilight and her friends were having a tough time safely evacuating the populace. Things had been going well until the sudden earthquake, which had driven them all into a panic. "Please remain calm!" Gorgenia exclaimed before needing to jump aside to avoid getting trampled. "Everypony make your way to the castle," Twilight added, "It's the most structurally secure building in town, so it won't be effected by any earthquake." "Why the heck did an earthquake happen anyway?" Spike asked, "Is Ponyville on some kind of fault?" Twilight shook her head, "This Trial must have done it. Either it or Grand, but I doubt Grand would cause an earthquake to beat it." She turned back to the castle, "That's not our concern right now. What matters is getting everypony back to the castle. Let the others focus on beating that...thing." Spike nodded as they continued to direct everypony toward the crystal structure while Springer glanced back at the park. "Darn it..." Springer whispered, "Be safe Flash." Script was now almost done with the runes, having created a circle that was just as long as Trial-G was, meaning it would have little room to move or attempt to escape. "Alright...that looks good. But if I want it to be fully inescapable, I should probably add a DNA lock into it." He hummed, "But how am I supposed to get that DNA? That thing's hardly gonna hold still long enough for me to get a mane or tail sample. Maybe the others managed to injure it enough to get some blood or skin." He glanced up at this, only to see Grand running up, "What do you want? I'm busy!" "I know," Grand replied as he reached him. "Is the barrier almost done?" Script looked back down at his work, "Almost. I'm thinking of adding a DNA lock to make sure that thing can't escape, but I need to...wait a minute-" He glanced back up at Grand with a smirk. "What?" He asked before feeling something tug on his mane, "OW!" He yelped as several hairs were pulled out, Script chuckling. "Perfect," he held the hairs in his magic and they quickly glowed, soon turning into an energy form that flew down into the runes and made them glow brighter. "Since that thing has your DNA, using your hairs instead of its will work perfectly. Once this thing is activated, anything with your DNA won't be able to pass through it." "Huh," Grand responded as he rubbed his mane, "Well, if that's the case, my plan should work perfectly." Script raised an eyebrow at this as Grand took out Lightning's dagger and placed it inside the circle, then ran off. "Activate it now!" He yelled before disappearing through the trees. "Hey!" Script yelled, only to sigh as Grand disappeared. His horn shined at this, creating a large dome inside the rune circle. "Your plan better work." "Flash Grinder!" The pegasus knight roared as he spun into an energy wheel. The cyborg thrust its arms into the ground and pulled out a large rock, the wheel slamming into the rock. The boulder was instantly destroyed, but the clone quickly side-stepped the wheel and fired a dirt blast, "GYAH!" Flash yelped as dirt struck his side, knocking him out of the wheel. "Iron Spikes!" Iron yelled as he thrust his spear into the ground and created a cage of metal around the beast while Lightning teleported to the point where the spikes met. "Static Strike!" He unleashed bolts of electricity from his horn that surged into the metal and zapped the cyborg, making his grandfather's clone cry out. But despite being electrocuted, Trial-G slammed its arms into the ground and pulled out two rock hammers that it bashed into the spike bars, denting them until there was a large gap that it could jump through. "Stop it!" Iron exclaimed as Flash charged into the cage, but Trial-G leap out before he could reach it. "Flash Driver!" He spun into the light drill again, the clone blocking the attack as Lightning leapt from atop the cage. "Lightning Spear!" He fired the electrical javelin at it, but the clone pushed Flash back before spinning and firing a dirt blast at the spear, dispelling it before leaping to the side, dodging Flash's drill attack. "Dang it!" Flash growled as he fired a Flash Cutter, only for the cyborg to swat it away with a dirt blast, "Oh, come on!" They saw Trial-G raise its hooves again, ready to begin another earthquake. "We gotta stop him!" "I got it!" Iron chimed in as his weapon began to shift into trident, "I'll-" "Everypony, get ready!" yelled a sudden voice, making them turn to see Grand running in with his hammer. "Take this!" With all his strength, he swung the hammer into the ground, a massive fissure beginning to appear between him and the Trial. Then, the clone did exactly what Grand had been hoping for and leapt straight into the air, only for the fissure to explode and send a shockwave into the cyborg. "Lightning!" Grand yelled as the unicorn teleported. In a flash, he appeared where Trial-G was going to land and grabbed it before teleporting away. "Yes! Come on!" Grand gestured to the others, the group running back to Script. As they did this, Lightning appeared in the rune circle and leapt back, passing through the barrier without issue. When Trial-G tried to follow, it was blasted back with a painful zapping motion. "Did it work?" Lightning asked, as the others arrived, the group now watching it attempt again and again to escape, but nothing worked. It was finally trapped. Over at the castle, everypony in town had retreated to the crystal structure and were now barreling through the doors. "Single file," Starlight told them. "We don't want anypony getting trampled." Soul flew above as she called out, "If anypony's hurt, I'll happily take a look at them." And as Springer watched as the final pony reach the castle, he turned to the town and sent out a wave of aura. After a few moments, he determined that nopony was left in the town and turned to Twilight. "I'm gonna go help the others. Hopefully, they'll be finished with this thing before I even get there." Twilight nodded back, "Alright. Good luck!" Springer's body began to spark and glitch in response, only to take off a second later. "Be safe Flash...those things are no joke!" Springer whispered to himself as he began zooming through town. Script and the defenders watched as Trial-G now stopped and stared at its prison, then held up a hoof to try and pass through it. But the metal bounced off the force field, giving the cyborg a short zap, making it hiss and pull back. "Nice," Lightning chuckled, "I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon." The robotic arms then lifted and the ponies flinched at this, only to see the arms bounce off the barrier as well. "Interesting," Script hummed, "I designed the barrier to prevent anything touching the captive to not go through either, but it shouldn't have had the shock reaction. Unless...its biotech." "Bio-what?" Flash asked. "It's technology using biological components." Script walked up to the barrier, "Hmmm...if its biotech, the mechanical parts of this creature are infused with its Grand's DNA. If that is true, the risk of rejection of runes would be high, though I didn't think this kind of magic or science was even being attempted, let along be mastered." Script shined a big grin, "Oh, the things we'll get to learn from you. This could revolutionize Equestrian technology on an almost country wide scale. Perhaps-" "That's going to have to wait." Grand interrupted, "Right now, we need to focus on finding a way to permanently contain this thing and transport it someplace safe." Script turned to glare at him for the interruption as Grand continued, "Your runes might be working, but we can't just leave this thing in the park forever." "And what do you suggest?" Script hissed, only to see Grand just stare at the Trial. Glancing back, he now saw the creature lift its hoof up and the area above the hole in its hoof appeared a swirling vortex of dirt. The sand slowly began clinging onto one another and forming a small rock that grew larger by the second. "What it doing?" Iron asked as the rock grew to the size of one of Lightning's daggers and looked sharp enough to pierce metal. "Relax," Script responded, "That rock's not gonna get through the barrier." But as he said that, the Trial pointed its arms toward the ground and slammed them down. And before anypony could realize what it was doing, the ground began to shake as it caused another earthquake. Everypony gasped, trying their best not to fall over as Script slowly backpedaled from the dome. At that moment, he realized he had forgotten this was against a pony with earth powers, so he should have made an extra rune to block off its connection to the earth. And within seconds, the ground around the Trial began to tear and break apart...including the rune symbols. Seeing this, the barrier instantly shattered, the sight making Script go wide-eyed. His body froze as Trial-G pointed its hoof and fired the stone bullet. And before he could react, the attack came at speeds he couldn't possibly comprehend. All he could do was blink as the stone came, ready to impale him through the chest. Bu as he blinked, he suddenly felt a pain in his side. Two hooves had shoved him to the side, the motion just now registering in his brain as a scream rang out, "RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" And when the unicorn hit the ground before looking back at what had shoved him...his eyes went even wider. "GRAND!" Flash screamed as they all saw the stone bullet embed itself into the older pony's chest. Grand staggered back at this, his behind hitting a nearby tree before sliding to his flank as blood began to trickle down from his large wound. Flash and Lightning both stared in horror at the sight, Iron feeling just as terrible before charging at the Trial. "Raaah!" He roared as his spear turned into a two-pronged pitchfork, stabbing the machine before flinging it away. He then charged at it again, Trial-G landing with ease before using its arms to grab a nearby boulder. And as Iron leapt at the machine, Script crawled over to Grand with still wide eyes, "Why?!" He asked, "Why did you do that?!" Grand groaned as he forced his eyes open, "You know it won't make me forgive you!" "I...wasn't trying to earn your forgiveness," he replied, "I did it...because you were in trouble." "What?! But...you hate me." "I don't...hate you." Grand slowly said, "I admit, I made a mistake a long time ago. I judged and...I tried to push you away from Lightning unfairly...and I'm sorry." He leaned back so his head rested against the tree, "I've...had a long life, and done a lot of mistakes...and they've hurt me." He let out a cough, the rock bullet shifting in his chest and threatening to fall out. "But...I eventually learned that letting mistakes you or those around you made fester is pointless. All that matters, is what you chose to do to make up for those mistakes." He slowly turned to Script. "I'm...a Royal Knight. My duty is to protect anypony that needs it, even those...that hate me. If it costs me...my life, then so be it." Script just stared at him, unable to respond. His eyes twitched as he tried to yell at him or do something...but he couldn't. His body wouldn't move. Flash and Lightning also continued to stare at their grandfather figure, fearing that such an injury was one there was no coming back from. That is, till the sound of metal on rock then caught their attention, making Lightning turn to see Trial-G block Iron's weapon turn into a hammer as it smashed a flung boulder before the cyborg fired a rock bullet that smacked Iron back. Flash turned to the fight as well, then glanced back at Grand before hearing Lightning speak up. "Let's get him!" He growled in absolute rage. "Right!" Flash roared before the two charged, Flash firing a Flash Cutter as Iron pushed himself back up. The cyborg dodged the light blade before throwing one of its arms forward, the orb on the end hitting Iron in the chest. But as he fell back, Flash got within range and slashed the Trial in the back. The cyborg staggered forward, only for Lightning to slash it in the side with his daggers, but the machine swung both arms at this, knocking both Lightning and Flash back. "Blaugh!" They both cried before Iron leapt at the beast, his weapon changing into a hammer again as the Trial blocked it with both arms. As this happened, a certain figure came flying into monster, "Steel Paw!" Springer roared as he spun through the air and slashed into the cyborg's side. It staggered back at this, sparks flying off it before regaining its balance. The creature then slammed its robotic arms into the ground and pulled them back, rock drills now adorning the ends as it charged. Springer quickly made a Bone Breaker and used it to block one of the drills while Iron used a shield to block the other. As they did this, Lightning charged and slashed two electrified daggers into the metal of Trial-G's chest. The clone fell back and rolled along the ground before getting to its hooves, only for Flash to run past and slash at it. And as he did this, Iron stood between Lightning and Springer, using his Celestic Gear to pole vault while the others fired an electrical and Aura Blast at Trial-G. The attacks battered the cyborg as Iron fell down and slashed the front with an Iron Saber. The clone staggered back at this, sparks appearing everywhere as Flash landed by his partner. "Let's do this! Mega Mode Power!" Springer yelled as his body shined and changed into his Mega Mode. "Armorize!" Flash added, being consumed by light that formed his Shining Guardian armor. This made the beast push itself back up and charged, preparing to suck away the Sacred Light. But as it got close, Flash's horn glowed and he disappeared in a flash. When the flash faded, Springer was standing in his place with an Aura Blast in paw. The clone tried to stop itself, but it couldn't slow down in time. "Aura Force!" He thrust the attack into Trial-G's chest, the orb exploding into a beam that blasted the cyborg back. The beast roared in agony as its chest exploded in midair, causing the Corrupted Shadow within to be destroyed. It crashed into the ground and rolled for several seconds, its body now letting out puffs of smoke. As it did, Flash pulled his sword back and his wings opened up. Everypony watched as he was propelled himself and slashed his sword the same way he had against Mecha-Flash, appearing behind Trial-G in the blink of an eye with his sword pointed forward. Trial-G began to scream in pain as its electrical systems began to overload, sparks flying off it until its entire body froze up and it began to fall over. And as it did this, its body was consumed by a massive fireball, which completely vaporized it. The defenders didn't get the chance to celebrate their victory however, all turning to Grand. Flash and Springer dispelled their power-ups as they ran over to where he and Script were, the four gathering around him. Springer's eyes went wide at seeing this. "What happened?" "It doesn't matter," Flash replied, "What matters is getting Grand some help." "But how?" Iron asked, "I don't think moving him is a good idea." The others grimaced before Flash turned to Lightning, telling him to go and get Soul and any doctor that he can find. He nodded and quickly teleported away while the others turned back to Grand. "It's gonna be okay," Flash told him mentor. "You're way too strong to let something like this take you out. You hear me, you old coot." Grand smiled at this, the rest saying the same except Script. He just stared at the earth pony, his brain unable to respond as he kept trying to understand what had just happened. And as this continued, a flash of light signaled the return of Lightning with several doctors, Soul, Twilight and Rarity. "Oh no," Twilight gasped, the doctors quickly moving over and helping Grand onto his back. Soul kicked in her magic and started firing it at Grand as the doctors worked to slowly extract the rock bullet. Instead of simply yanking it out, they removed it an inch at a time so Soul's magic could heal the new open area made whenever it was moved. But it was a slow, painful, process. By the time they were almost finished, the rest of the Mane Seven and many members of Ponyville had arrived. Script stared at all the ponies around him, all looking worried for Grand. The sight made his eyes dart around, unbelief on his face. "He's gonna be alright, isn't he?" Heart asked Flash, who didn't respond and simply pulled the colt close as the medical team continued their work. Soul was looking exhausted, but nodded when the lead doctor asked if she was ready for him to completely remove the rock. She nodded and after digging deep, she fired her magic at him as they pulled the bullet the last few inches out. Her magic quickly closed up the hole in his chest, which looked like it would leave a terrible scar, but Grand continued to look in pain. The doctor got up while Soul tried to keep healing him, but her horn soon flickered out of energy and she almost collapsed until Starlight caught her. The medical specialist moved over to Flash and the others, who were all giving him the same look. "Well?" Flash asked, "What's gonna happen now?" The doctor frowned, "It's in his hooves now. He's lost a lot of blood, and his body took a serious shock from being shot like that. If he can make it at least until tomorrow, he'll be out of the woods, but-" Grand suddenly started coughing, blood now coming out. Flash, Lightning and Iron quickly knelt beside him. "Come on Grand," Flash said, "You heard him. By this time tomorrow, you won't have to worry about anything." Grand flinched at this before replying, "It's...okay. I don't intend to go anywhere...but it's okay." He smiled as he looked up at the sky, "I've had a great life. It hasn't been easy, and I have a lot of regrets, but I love it. If it were to end now, I'd be okay with it." "Well I wouldn't!" Lightning barked, Grand glancing back down at him, seeing tears go down his grandson's face, "Please...I can't lose you yet. Not after all the time we already lost because of me." Grand reached out and wiped his tears away, "It's okay." His gaze shifted to Rarity for a moment, then to Wild and Gorgenia. "I know it'll be hard, but you've got some amazing friends who'll be there for you." Then, his gaze shifted to Script and the unicorn felt his heart stop. "Truly amazing friends." He coughed again, more blood flying from his mouth. "Grand!" Flash yelled, "Please...don't go." He placed a hoof on his shoulder, "We need you." Grand smiled and patted his hoof. "Maybe, but I can't always be there of you kid. Besides, you've grown so much since I met you that I don't think there's anything more for you to learn from me." Flash shook his head, tears going down his eyes as well. But Grand just patted his hoof again, "It's okay. I'm happy so many of you are here for me. I'm proud to have called this town my home, even if it was only for a short while." His gaze shifted to all the ponies there, "Be strong. Support one another and thank you...for letting me be apart of this...of this...town." That was his last breath before his hoof fell down, his eyes drifting closed. The ponies around him gasped, Soul running over to try and use her magic but it wouldn't activate. Flash's eyes filled with tears while Lightning looked like he was about to scream. Script's gaze shifted to the rest of the ponies around him, seeing all of them tear up, some already crying. And with that, something in his brain broke. He quickly got up and ran over, shoving ponies to the side, "Out of my way!" He screeched, everypony flinching as he went over to Grand and flashed his horn. "What are you doing?!" Flash yelled, only for Script's magic to strike the point of Grand's body over his heart and on his side, then he turned to Lightning. "Charge up to a hundred and fifty joules of power." Lightning blinked at him, only for Script to scream, "DO IT!" Lightning's horn flashed as Script held up his hooves and added a rune to each, then held them up to Lightning's horn. Everypony watched as the electrical energy flew off the horn and into the rune, Script turning to Grand. "You...are not dying here today!" He exclaimed before thrusting his hooves onto the runes he had placed on Grand's body. Grand's entire body jolted, but did nothing. "Two hundred joules!" Lightning charged it up again and Script transferred the energy to his hooves. "Script..." Lightning whispered as he saw his friend try again and again. "Clear!" He blasted him again, but there was no reaction. "Two hundred and fifty...Clear!" The park was filled with Scripts voice, screaming again and again as he continued to jolt Grand's body in an attempt to jump start it. "Clear! Clear! Clear! CLEAR!" Signal lost. Void stared at the screen, his body shaking as he took several deep breaths, the sounds of his respirator filling the air. He then pressed another key and brought up the battle data. Everything on Flash, Springer, Iron and Lightning were now at one hundred percent. The sight made him chuckle, "Perfect. Exactly as planned." He began to type away at this, "With this, I have everything I need. Now to begin the counter measures." But as he said that, another machine began to beep. He pressed a button and growled, "What?!" A female voice spoke up, "Void, we found something we need you take a look at." "Oh? Is it the relic you need?" "No," the pony replied, "Not that one. But this one does seem to have some...interesting capabilities." Void leaned back in his chair, sighing, "Let me guess: You wish for me to study it and find a way to use if for your plans?" "Correct. Find out how it works and determine the best way to use it. From what we can tell, it has some kind of spatial and temporal distortion abilities. If we can figure out how it works, it may make things much easier." Void raised an eyebrow at this before replying, "Very well. I will look it over and unlock its secrets." He pressed the button again before the voice could say anything else, the pony letting out a sigh before coughing. The fit grew harsher a second in, the pony clutching his chest as he struggled to stay up. He took several deep breaths, barely able to stay in his chair before his breathing came back. "Urgh..." he groaned once the coughing ended, "I need to get the Sacred Light." He staggered out of the seat, "If I don't, then I won't last much longer." He turned to the final capsule in his lab, limping over to it and placing a hoof on the glass. "You're all I have left. If you fail, then I'll need to take much more...extreme measures." He glanced back at the computer, pressing another button as it showed the battle data, new numbers appearing on the screen. "This is a good start. Time to shift through all the data..." The screen changed to a new loading screen as he glanced back at his lab, soon cleaning up as he prepared for whatever his allies were about to bring to him to study. Silence filled the hospital room as Lightning stared down at Grand, pure despair on his face. He could barely move, only to see something in the corner of his eyes. It was Grand, the old pony's face clenching up in pain...only for his eyes to slowly drift open. "Uhh...." he moaned before moving his head to see his very happy looking grandson standing over him. "Gramps!" He cried out, the smile on his being something that filled Grand's heart with joy. "You're awake!" "Yeah...I am." he muttered out, his body trying to move before Lightning stopped him. "Don't. You're still nowhere near one hundred percent." He pushed him back into the bed, "You gave us a serious scare back there." "Sorry," Grand replied, "What happened? The last thing I remember, I was in the park and I could feel myself slipping away and...and..." "You died," Lightning finished, Grand going wide-eyed at this, "You died. You stopped breathing. Your heart stopped. You were dead." "Then...how am I...how am I alive?" "Somepony saved you." "Soul?" He asked, but got his answer from the doorway. "Me." He turned to see something that made his eyes grow even wider. It was Script, the unicorn staring at him with a uncomfortable glance. They locked eyes, Script's words sinking into Grand's mind as Lightning got up. "I'm...gonna go tell the doctors you're awake," he ran past Script, the two then staring and remaining silent for a few moments before Grand broke the silence. "You saved me?" Script blushed at this, "I had help, but yeah. It was...mostly me." "Why? Don't...you hate me?" "I guess...I guess I saved you for the same reason you saved me. I had to power to do so, and it would have been wrong if I hadn't." Grand blinked at this, only to see Script move over to the window, "And...I couldn't stand seeing Lightning and the others looking so sad. So many ponies here care about you. Almost as if you were a part of their families." Grand tried to chuckle at this, "In a way, Ponyville is one big family. I don't know what it is about this place, but it has a way of bonding those that live here." "Either way, the pain I could see in their eyes was too much to bear." "I don't know how to feel about that," Grand replied as he glanced up at the ceiling, "To know that my death would affect so many ponies is...hard to put into words. It's nice to know how much they care about me, but it also hurts to know I put them through so much pain." He looked back at Script, "Something's clearly troubling you. Upset that I'm still breathing?" "No," he shook his head, "It's just...I don't know." He turned to Grand and the pony could see both anger and sadness swelling within them. "For so long, I just...I hated you so much. After all those years of you bullying me and threatening me because of what I was and because I was Lightning's friend..." Script took a deep breath at this, "And then I researched your past. Saw what you did to Lightning. Saw what you did to your own son. You drove your family to death and criminal acts! And yet...and yet everypony else sees you as a hero! I just...I just couldn't stand it!" Script sat down in a chair and growled...only to sigh as he added, "And then...you saved me! You almost died saving me! WHY?!" "Script..." "I don't get it!" Script yelled, "WHY?! I just...I don't know what to think anymore! Who are you?!" "I'm Grand Hoof," he replied, "I'm a pony that's made a lot of mistakes and hurt a lot of ponies in doing so, including you. But I learned from those mistakes and swore to never make them again." He let out a long sigh, "So in a way...you're right. The pony you once saw me as did exist. I was...a pony that hurt his family and pushed them away and...was seen as a hero when I had no right to be." Grand bit his lip at his next words, "Tell me, did Lightning ever tell you that I rejected being a Royal Knight at first?" Script raised an eyebrow at this, "You...did? Why?" "Because I knew I didn't deserve it. Heck, Princess Celestia had a gear made for me and I rejected it as soon as she gave it to me." Grand glanced down at his hooves, "I still think about that moment and what I should have done...but that's the past." He looked back up at Script, "I understand what I've done...and I'm sorry. I know the pain I caused you and those around me, and I pushed myself to change." Script just stared at him, feeling his heart twist up, "So what now?" "I can't change the past Script, and you and I both know I'm not perfect. I've made a ton of mistakes." He sighed, "But the future can be anything we want it to be." He forced himself to sit up, groaning in pain as he held out his hoof, "So please...let me try and make up for what I did, and make a better future for us and those we both care about." Script stared at his hoof for a few moments, only to get up and shake the hoof, "Okay. I guess...everypony deserves the chance to prove they want to change." Grand smiled at this as the pair continued to shake, Script adding, "So...I guess this means...I forgive you. And sorry for how I've been." "Its fine kiddo. We'll work it all out." "Yeah..." Script glanced away at this as they continued to shake hooves, "Thanks for...giving me a chance." "Of course." Grand replied before they pulled their hooves away, only for the door to open with Lightning returning with a doctor along with Flash, Twilight, Rarity and many others. "Grand!" Flash cheered, "You're alright!" "Apparently," Grand chuckled as the doctor began checking him over and pushing him back down, "Sorry I scared you like that." "You had us all so worried," Rarity added. "Celestia and Luna are on their way," Twilight continued, "They were very worried about you, and plan to be here as soon as possible." Other ponies came in and Script watched as the revolving circle of ponies came and left after making sure Grand was really okay. Seeing so many ponies happy to see Grand alive made Script not doubt his decision to help at all. And as he watched, he thought about what Grand had said about making a better future for them and those they cared for. Taking a deep breath, Script closed his eyes and imagined all the hate and resentment he had even felt for Grand. He imagined it swirled into a ball he was holding in his hooves...and after taking one final breath, he let the ball go. Almost instantly, Script felt a pressure that he didn't know he had on his heart lessen. It was like a tight rope he didn't realize he was wearing around his neck had been loosened, allowing him to truly breathe. Lightning's birthday had started off great, and despite ending on a terrible note, a new future had just opened up for Script and Grand. One that would hopefully lack all the mistakes and pitfalls they had made in their past. But only time would tell